


the worst thing (you ever heard)

by Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Just... lots of Pining, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29457417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell/pseuds/Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell
Summary: Nebula spends quite a lot of time with her bodyguard.She has a few revelations.(Title taken from "Cruel Summer" by Taylor Swift.)
Relationships: Nebula Starling/Pepper, Original Female Character/Original Male Character





	the worst thing (you ever heard)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [InfernalPume](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InfernalPume/gifts).



Nebula doesn’t know what to expect when her manager calls her in for a meeting, but she goes in anyways. She’s only been off her family’s ship for three days and she’s not adjusting to being back on a planet well. Her leg hurts every time she takes a step even with the brace under her pants leg and she  _ desperately  _ wants something sweet. 

The first thing she sees when she opens the door is the blinking red eyes of her manager, the Amorphous’ shaven head glittering with some sort of powder. 

She steps in, and _ then _ she sees the Plaphin leaning against the wall.

She gives him a nod because she doesn’t want to ignore him, and then her manager clears their throat, their fingers tapping against their desk.

Nebula wanted to sigh. Instead she pasted on a dazzling smile and turned on the charm, turning to her manager.

“It’s so lovely to see you.” She said, keeping her voice bright. 

“It’s great to see you too,” Said the manager, their smile splitting their face in a wide grin. “You’re healing well, yes?”

“Yes.” Nebula confirmed, the smile on her own face stiffening at the mention of her kidnapping. “Not as quick as I would like, though. You asked to see me?”

“I did.” The manager says, waving towards the chairs, and Nebula gratefully takes a seat. “Given that the…  _ incident  _ happened while you were doing work for us, it absolutely could  _ not  _ be allowed to happen again.”

Nebula doesn’t follow what she means, but she nods anyways. Inside she’s bitter. 

_ I never would have been kidnapped if-  _

She remembers her uncle’s face, and the words she was working to bite back taste like ashes on her tongue. 

“So, we hired a bodyguard for you!” There’s a little squeal on the end of their sentence, as if it’s the most  _ wonderful  _ surprise, but Nebula’s heart is racing in her chest. “Meet Pepper!”

_ Great.  _ _  
  
_

One more person to keep her secret from.

She makes sure to  _ beam  _ then, pushing herself up and out of her chair to walk up to the Plaphin. He towers over her, but all she does is hold out her hand and smile.

“Nebula Starling.” She says. “Pleased to meet you!”

Pepper eyes her, and it takes her a second to realize he’s not checking her out.

He’s  _ sizing her up.  _ Assessing to see if she’s a threat.

After a second, he takes her hand and shakes it. His hand dwarfs hers.

“Pleasure’s mine.” He deadpans.

* * *

Pepper knows she was a Spaceman. For a few weeks he was convinced she was still working for them.

What Pepper doesn’t know, and what Nebula  _ won’t  _ offer, is that she’s one of  _ the  _ Spacemen. She won’t even ‘admit’ to being a grunt. He has no right to know her past. He has no right to know  _ her.  _

* * *

“I’m watching you, Starling.” He growls one day. 

“Enjoy the view, then.” She says over her shoulder before even realizing it.

His amused snort follows her down the hall, and she ignores the whisper of a thought that tells her she wouldn’t mind hearing it more often.

* * *

Over time, they settle into a pattern, one that Nebula becomes comfortable with.

He becomes a staple in her life. Almost like a fact of the world. 

The suns rise and set, the moon changes, and Pepper will keep her safe. 

He walks her home at night, to the place where she stays with the other Starens. When they’re touring, he makes sure she’s safe before he goes into his own room on the ship. After they perform, he waits outside the door to make sure no one gets in. It gets to the point where Nebula really does feel safe around him. 

* * *

He proves that she can really trust him a few months after his hiring. 

Nebula is in her room after the performance, sitting in front of the vanity. She’s already changed out of the glam performance clothes and into street clothes, and she takes a minute to stare at herself in the mirror, at the makeup. 

With the makeup on, she doesn’t look tired. She looks like a  _ star.  _ She looks like exactly what she’s always wanted to be. 

She sighs and starts wiping it off, one swipe at a time. 

She’s just wiping off the last of her mascara when the arm wraps around her midsection. 

Nebula doesn’t waste time. She throws her head back and she  _ screams.  _ When another hand covers her mouth, she bites down on it as hard as she can, and stomps on the foot she feels under hers. 

She manages to break away, feels for a weapon along her vanity and comes up with a curling iron. It feels so similar to the tme her Uncle got her that she almost can’t breathe. She forces herself to anyways, whips around with the curling iron in hand. 

And gets punched in the face.

She’s hitting the wall when the door flies open, and she shoots to her feet, only for a familiar arm to push her behind him. 

She barely has time to blink before she registers the pain in her face, but she stays right where she is. Pepper has already launched himself at the person, and before she really knows it they’re lying on the floor and he’s used her phone to call for help. 

Nebula lowers herself to the ground shakily because it’s either that or collapse.

And then she starts to cry before she can even process it all. 

“Hey, hey,” He says, suddenly sounding unsure. “Don’t cry. You’re safe.”

Nebula tries to answer, chokes on her own sobs instead. She doesn’t  _ feel  _ safe. Her mind is reeling back to that interrogation room, to the knives and the gun at her head and the  _ betrayal- _

Pepper drops to his knees in front of her and pulls her into an awkward hug, murmuring, “C’mere, Neb. I’ve got you.”

_ Neb.  _ Not  _ Ms. Starling _ , or the ever sarcastic  _ princess. Neb.  _ Like he knows her. Like he cares about her.

She hiccups and wipes her face with one hand. The part of her that’s always concerned with appearances finds time to be relieved she took her makeup off. Another part of her tells her faintly that she should be embarrassed, that she should be pulling away and pulling herself together.

But she doesn’t.

Nebula allows herself to ignore her pride and ignore her appearance, because she finally feels  _ safe  _ for the first time since her family’s ship.

* * *

She still doesn’t tell him the truth, but he stops prying for it, and in return, she lets her walls down a little.

Just a  _ little-  _ she doesn’t know him like she knows Aaza. Aaza and her both have things to hide, so Aaza can know most of the truth.

She doesn’t want him to.

She doesn’t like the idea that he might think differently of her.

* * *

Nebula doesn’t know where that rage came from. Doesn’t know what to think about the now abandoned ship full of bodies that will be found floating in space.

She tries to make herself feel guilty, or disgusted, or afraid. Maybe later those things will come. But for now, she doesn’t feel bad at all.

She cleans the blood off the floor, and feeds her bloody clothes to the incinerator, and showers. She doesn’t bother drying it or styling it at all, just throws on a clean outfit and rushes to Pepper’s room.

He’s still unconscious, and for a moment  _ fury  _ courses through Nebula, the same sort that she felt on the other ship.

_ No one hurts her people.  _

She sits down on the edge of his bed, and hesitantly leans forwards, gently running her fingers through his fur once. 

She’s leaning forward to do it again, her fingers shaking just the slightest bit, when his eyes fly open and his hand darts up, catching her wrist. Alarm and anger fades into worry. 

“Ms. Starling,” He begins, trying to struggle up, and Nebula twists her wrist out of his hand to push him down with both hands, hovering over him. 

“Don’t try to get up just yet.” She says, keeping her voice soothing, quiet. “You took a pretty bad hit to the head.”

Pepper scoffs, tries to get up again. Nebula keeps her hands firmly on his chest, pinning him with her best forceful impression. 

He decides to humor her for now.

“Someone boarded the ship,” He starts to tell her, and she nods. 

“Don’t worry. I took care of it.” She whispers. He opens his mouth as if to protest, and she cuts him off. “ _ I took care of it.  _ Pepper, we’re safe.  _ No one  _ is going to be coming after us. I made sure.”

Her tone dips from the comforting one she had aimed for down to cold and  _ furious,  _ and all Pepper does is stare at her. 

“You’ve been holding out on me, haven’t you?” He demands after a moment. 

Nebula grins- not her typical grin she serves everyone, peppy and bubbly and air-headed. Not her normal pleased grin. This is the grin of a job well done, a threat taken care of. Dark satisfaction sure to turn bitter. 

“ _ No one  _ hurts  _ my  _ friends and gets away with it.” She tells him.

He chuckles without much humor, and lets Nebula fuss over the wound on the back of his head, which he claims doesn’t even hurt much. Nebula treats it anyways, squeezing one of his hands when she gets off the bed. 

She pushes her damp hair back behind her face, and freezes as Pepper’s eyes  _ immediately  _ latch on the small tattoo of her clan, on her neck  _ just  _ below her earlobe. 

_ He thinks you were a grunt,  _ she reminds herself,  _ this doesn’t tell him anything he hasn’t already guessed.  _

His lips curl up in a smile as he leans back in his bed. 

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”

* * *

He doesn’t treat her any differently from before.

Nebula doesn’t know if that’s good or bad.

* * *

The night she realizes what she feels about him, she locks herself in her room and resists the urge to scream. 

She picks up one of her pillows and throws them at the wall, then a second one, and then a third one. 

She’s been away from her family for  _ years.  _ She’s been careful not to make attachments because she can’t  _ afford  _ those- because they’d always find out about her past, or see who she  _ really  _ was.

She’s been  _ so  _ careful. The only people she even  _ spoke  _ with on a regular basis before now were Aaza and Hoss. 

But then she got hurt, and Pepper- Pepper was  _ good.  _

He had protected her, had made her feel safe, had made her feel  _ strong.  _ He had the right snarky comments that made her want to banter for hours and he had the gruff voice to remind her to keep moving on days when she didn’t feel safe enough to face the world at all. 

Somehow, without ever even trying, he had made Nebula  _ trust  _ him. 

And tonight, she had been talking to him, and they had been laughing, and Nebula felt  _ lit up  _ inside, like sunshine. The thought flickered through her head of what it would be like to kiss him- to have those hands cup her face, and wake up to those blue eyes every morning, and Nebula had suddenly known she was in too deep. 

She had  _ never  _ expected to fall in love. 

But she  _ was,  _ and she knew her heart. He had a place there now; he would always have a place there. 

For a moment, the more romantic side of her fantasizes about telling him. 

She shoves it down  _ mercilessly.  _

“Get it  _ together,  _ Nebula,” She snaps at herself, tugging on her hair slightly. “Loving him doesn’t change  _ anything.”  _

And it doesn’t. It  _ can’t.  _ He doesn’t really know her- how could he possibly love her?

She’s just going to have to avoid telling him. 

She tells herself it’ll be easy, but she knows herself. She knows this new secret won’t be easy to keep. 

But if she told him she loved him, she would have to tell him about her past. And he wouldn’t  _ want  _ any part of that. No one ever would. God, she remembered how hard it had always been to find dates within the group. 

Worse than that, Pepper would probably decide it was suicide. That  _ no  _ job was worth sticking his neck out for some  _ crime heiress.  _

The only way to have Pepper at all was to keep him as her bodyguard. And to do that, she had to keep her mouth shut.

No matter how much she would hate it. 


End file.
